Doctor Gonzo

This from boxofficemojo.com:

Universal Pictures has targeted July 28, 2006 to uncover Miami Vice, director Michael Mann's adaptation of his 1980's television show. Colin Farrell, no stranger to action TV remakes after S.W.A.T., and Jamie Foxx, who previously worked with Mann on Collateral and Ali, take over for Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as detectives Crockett and Tubbs, respectively.

Universal's move follows the trend of opening major action pictures in the late summer, which dates back to another TV adaptation, The Fugitive in 1993, and continued with last year's The Bourne Supremacy and Collateral and S.W.A.T. in 2003.


Elsewhere in the realm of TV adaptations, Warner Bros. shifts The Dukes of Hazzard from July 29 of this year to June 24, where it will go up against another remake, Buena Vista's Herbie: Fully Loaded. Warner Bros. also moves horror remake House of Wax from April 29 to May 6, which, if no movie flinches, will prove a crowded start to summer 2005—also scheduled are director Ridley Scott's Crusades epic Kingdom of Heaven, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the comedy Monster-in-Law with Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda.

Warner Bros. also announced dates for its summer 2006 tent poles. The Poseidon Adventure remake kicks off the season opposite X-Men 3 on May 5, 2006 while the long brewing Superman revival lands on June 30—the same date Spider-Man 2 opened last year.

Fox Searchlight will open spelling bee drama Bee Season starring Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche in limited release on Sept. 30 and platform it out like such other Searchlight pictures as Sideways and Kinsey. The success of the 2003 documentary Spellbound may have inspired a minor trend as Lions Gate announced another spelling bee drama on its schedule, Akeelah and the Bee, with former What's Love Got to Do With It co-stars Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett.

Dr. DVD

Dang! They get release dates before they even shoot a frame of film. Isn't that a bit risky? FWIW, I am bettting something flinches from the May 6th date, and am going to make the call right now that House of Wax could very well get shoved into late September or October of next year, to capitalize on being a horror movie at Halloween.

Artman

Interesting, I wonder where M:I 3 will fit in..may or june I guess.

jaeufraser

Well, Memorial Day weekend looks to still be open. MI2 opened quite successfully with that date in 2000, so I wouldn't be surprised with them doing that again.

Dr. DVD

One thing I have noticed is that studios tend to try and avoid all putting their tentpole attractions out at the same time and seem to do each other a courtesy of giving everyone their "one weekend" so to say.
I recall at one point Day After Tomorrow, Troy, and Van Helsing were all going to hit on Memorial Day, but they stretched those out rather well.
I guess it's better to have one major $100 million+ open a week than throwing a bunch out at once and having them all come up short their first weekend.

matome

Yep, I think there's gonna be serious jockeying and switching for those dates. Nowadays, it almost seems as if a summer movie's success hinges on the size of the number the studio splashes across the media on Monday. If you don't open HUGE, the movie must suck mentality.

jaeufraser

Yeah, I don't think it's really about courtesy, but more about simple box office realities. If a movie is going to be a monster hit, you don't want to get in their way. While sometimes opening against a giant film can work, the simple truth is if you're going against Star Wars, you don't want your space adventure movie opening the same weekend. You're going to get stomped. Whereas say, romantic comedy counterprogramming often times would work.

This summer Fantastic Four staked out the 4th of July weekend a long time ago. War of the Worlds decided to release on that date, and even though Fox doesn't admit it, you know full well their decision to move to the 8th of July wasn't about courtesy but simply about getting the hell out of the way of what is obviously the bigger film. Considering that War of the Worlds and Fantastic Four both appeal to simlar demographics, opening against WotW very well could've led to a reduced box office, whereas opening against Bewitched, which is a comedy and not nearly the hefty movie WotW is, might give them a better chance. Nonetheless, it's all about maximizing their opening. I don't think it has anything to do with being friendly.

Shannon Nutt

I think "Four" may have also been moved once the studio got a look at some of the footage...from what I've seen, it looks like a movie that should be released in the spring or the fall instead of the summer (kind of like "Hellboy" and "Daredevil"). I think the studio thought going in they might have another "Spidey" or "X-Men" - and there's no way "Four" is going to do those kind of numbers. I'm guessing WOTW will STILL beat "Four" on "Four"'s opening weekend...although not nearly as much as it would have if they both opened the same weekend.

Deftones

Superman and X-men next year? Sweet!

I think I can live with this three to four comic adaptation movies a year.

LorenzoL

I'm betting that Fantastic Four will do less than the Hulk opening weekend numbers.

chente

....so tired of sequels and remakes....

scott shelton

Waaaaaah? I don't think Fox moved the film a WEEK becuase they didn't like the footage.

No way FOUR is going to do X-MEN numbers, huh... Interesting.

Shannon Nutt

I always enjoy your posts, Scott.

jaeufraser

Well, I don't think the footage of FF is necessarily the problem. It still is a 100plus million dollar film, something neither Daredevil nor Hellboy can claim, and it surely is going to have a bigger marketing push than those films.

But, let's be real, it was just going to get stomped by WotW. If Paramount hadn't placed their film there, Fantastic Four would still be opening. But I don't think anybody views FF as strong as a film as some of the other blockbusters. Hulk had a great opening weekend...I sincerely doubt FF will reach those heights.

Dr. DVD

Another interesting fact about opening weekend: why is there so much emphasis placed on it in the summer over other time periods? Because in all honesty, most movies that come out in the summer aren't that great and get ravaged by critics and word of mouth after they open. The plan is to make as much money as you can in the first three days because then word will get out that your movie isn't all that, and then another opens to take your spot the next weekend; and the same process continues with it and so on and so forth until about mid to late August.

matome

True, but they can also make a lot more cash on the weekdays in the summer since the kiddies are out of school and don't have to wait for Friday/Saturday.

Bill Needle

Yep, go for the big weekend theater hit, then start the marketing for the first of 3+ DVD realease editions. The new Hollywood.

Dr. DVD

While that is true, DVDs are now starting to get viewed as another stage of the movie's life. In the old days of rental, video could more or less supplement a movie's take. In the old Hollywood (well, at least about ten years ago) if a movie didn't have a decent theatrical run it was considered down for the count. DVDs are almost like a second release of a movie nowadays, and some seem to get more publicity for that format than the one in the theater. Which I can understand, because with HD sets and home theater systems getting more widespread, a movie can actually be more enjoyable at home than in the theater.

Bill Needle

Don't get me wrong, I am all for the new Hollywood. In fact, I propose newer Hollywood, in which DVDs start coming out the week after the theatrical opening. Since I have all but stopped going to the theater and gone almost exclusively DVD, it would suit me just fine. In fact, I look forward to the day when the DVD comes out first. "You've seen it on DVD... Now, for the first time in theaters..."

scott shelton

Move to China.

Bill Needle

Good one...

jaeufraser

Well, opening weekend has just become the way of Hollywood. Whether they pushed that into happening or audiences did (I believe it's a combination of trends) this has become how movies are released.

I think it'd be a mistake to believe that opening weekend is only really focused on in the summer months. Save for some high profile platform winter releases, most every movie is viewed with an eye towards a big opening weekend. It just happens that of course summer is the time for the big movies, and every other month the film are in general not as big budget. Then you have a few holiday periods where films perform a bit differently, especially the last couple weeks of Decemeber.

Also, another thing to keep in mind is box office percentages taken by the studio versus the theaters. While most people will look at total box office gross and just divide in two to guess how much the studio is taking, it rarely is so cut and dried. Often times, especially the bigger movies, studios will demand a much highger take, I've heard up to 80 or 90% of the box office gross on opening weekend, with that number falling over the following weeks. So there is an incentive for many studios to first of all return their money fast, but also cut into a larger percentage. Not to mention, there is just more films coming out, so there's oftentimes not as much space for a film to play for a few months.

naitram

I hear ya. I mean House of Wax and The Poseidon Adventure? At least remake crappy movies, not classics.